In recent years, the sending and receiving of e-mail with image and sound file attachments using handheld communications terminals such as mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and general-purpose personal computers, has become popular.
However, with devices for sending and receiving e-mail, there is a concern that arises from the problem of being unable to use files attached to the e-mail because the functions of various hardware devices are device-dependent, even when the device is capable of receiving e-mail with file attachments. For example, some mobile phone cannot open JPEG (Joint photographic Coding Experts Group) formatted image files, even if it can receive e-mail with image files attached that comply with JPEG format. In General, the size of attachment file is larger than the text, it is thus apparent that receiving e-mail by a device which cannot open the email is time-consuming for the user. In addition, especially for mobile phones with limited hardware resources, a problem will arise where other functions of the mobile phone may be restricted during reception of that files attached to e-mail. This is not a negligible problem.
It is possible to ask the user of a mobile terminal whether to receive attachments every time a mail server receives e-mail destined for the mobile terminal. In this case, however, usability of the mobile terminal will significantly be reduced.
In order to solve these problems, a technology disclosed in JP2001-217860A for converting a file format into a format compatible to a mobile phone. Specifically, a server apparatus converts a format of a file which cannot be handled by the mobile phone into a format which can be handle by the mobile phone, so as to create e-mail with the converted files attached, and send it to a mobile phone.
However, it is often a case where a large number of terminals access a mail server at one time, the technology disclosed in JP2001-217860A will result in heavy server loads due to the format conversions.
Further, there are many kinds of terminals accessing to the server, the server is required to employ a number of conversion methods in compliance with the kinds. Thus, the server loads further increases.
It is possible to perform the format conversions in a commutation terminal not in a server apparatus. In this case, however, especially for devices which are not good in performance such as mobile phones, even if the devices can perform the format conversions, a significant amount of time is went to the format conversions. Thus, the format conversion by means of terminal devices is not realistic.
To reduce the format conversions in a server apparatus, a technology has been developed, in which a server apparatus sends to mobile phones a notification indicating that the file conversions have been failed, when the server apparatus receives e-mail with an attachment file which the server cannot convert. In other words, the server apparatus sends to the mobile phones only a part of a number of e-mail with attachment files. The server apparatus that performs the format conversions is furnished with device compatibility profiles that indicate which file formats are compatible with the mobile phones.
In this case, however, types of attachment files that a mobile phone can receive depend only on the type of the mobile phones and thus cannot be changed. Specifically, any type of attachment files that can be handled by a mobile phone is sent to the mobile phone even if a user of the mobile phone does not wish to receive it. In other words, a user cannot choose attachment files to be received.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, to provide e-mail distribution methods, communications terminals, server apparatus, programs, and storage media, so that the communications terminals can receive only attachment files which the user wishes to receive.